Australia’s No.1 Greek Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has made an incredible comeback victory against World No. 29 Ugo Humbert 5-7 6-4 3-6 7-6 6-4, moving onto the next round of the Australian Open.
The two players both had convincing wins against their round one opponents, with Kyrgios showcasing a strong effort against Portuguese player Ferreira Silva.
Only one word can describe the show-stopping performance tonight: Incredible. The Greek-Australian fed off the energy of the crowd like fuel, putting his best work on display.
It didn’t take long for Kyrgios to start getting into a disagreement with the referee, having two aces denied from a supposed let. The Australian didn’t let it faze him, however, immediately hitting an ace and taking the set afterwards.
Despite Kyrgios’ showboating, his French opponent held strong to take his games and not let his opponent earn a break. Humbert is to be especially commended for his strong forearm, helping earn crucial points at times.
Kyrgios almost suffered an early set loss, yet brought it back to an intense 5-5 draw. In a disappointing game, however, with a missed net chip, Humbert managed to take the first set 5-7.
The Kyrgios comeback began in the second set, instantly claiming a break point to get ahead of his opponent. In a crazy following two sets, neither opponent managed to claim their service game, both earning successive break points.
Some aggressive and risky plays by the Australian saw him lose some risky points, but ultimately claim his service games. Arguments with the referee ensued after more serves by Kyrgios weren’t counted for allegedly hitting the net, causing the audience to stir up. At one point, the Australian insisted he wouldn’t play until ‘the machine’ was reset.
Regardless of the incident during the match, Kyrgios went on to win the set 6-4.
Things didn’t go Kyrgios’ way in the third set. A mix of frustration and exhaustion, along with the talented expertise from the Frenchman, saw Humbert earn a break point. The Australian was unable to physically recover after exhausting all his energy in the set prior, losing the set 6-3 and being down two sets to one.
Kyrgios’ dip in form continued into the next set, with Humbert earning a break point in the first game. From there, Kyrgios went in all out attack, punishing his opponent when receiving the slightest soft hits.
A tough, tough few games faced Kyrgios in the next 30 minutes. Pure sweat beaded off the Greek- Australian understanding the importance of his next few shots. Kyrgios came close to breaking Humbert late in the fourth set, yet the Frenchman did well to hold him off and push it to 5-3.
Taking his service game with ease, all eyes were on Kyrgios in the next game, who required a break point to stay in the game and tournament.
And the Australian made the magic happen. Pushing the Frenchman to three deuces, Kyrgios finally took a break point to make it 5-5 and draw up the set.
Kyrgios went on to take the service game and leave all eyes on Humbert. Unable to break World No. 29, the set was forced into a tiebreaker.
Safe to say the tie-breaker went the Australians way, winning 7-2 and pushing the match into a final and decider set.
More arguments with the referee ensued in the decider set after a camera was broken off the net, causing Kyrgios to plead for a machine review. The referee proceeded to deny the claims of the device not working.
The opponents fought hard game for game. Tweeners were on display by Kyrgios, a strong backhand by the Frenchman put his opponent in a difficult position at times.
But unfortunately for Humbert, he couldn’t find the flow of the game and was left chasing Kyrgios. One break point and hitting a total of 30 aces, Kyrgios went on to run away with the set and match victory.
“I’m lost for words, that was one of the craziest matches I’ve ever played,” Kyrgios said in a post-match interview.
“If you were inside my head there were some dark thoughts… But I live to fight another day and I hoep to keep playing entertaining tennis for you guys.”
Nick Kyrgios will face World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in the next round of the Australian Open.
